Traditionally, cellular communication networks have been designed to establish wireless communication links between mobile devices and fixed communication infrastructure components (such as base stations or access points) that serve users in a wide or local geographic range. However, a wireless network can also be implemented utilizing only device-to-device (D2D) communication links without the need for fixed infrastructure components. This type of network is typically referred to as an “ad-hoc” network. A hybrid communication network can support devices that connect both to fixed infrastructure components and to other D2D-enabled devices.
D2D communication may be used to implement many kinds of services that are complementary to the primary communication network or provide new services based on the flexibility of the network topology. D2D multicast communication such as broadcasting or groupcasting is a potential means for D2D communication where mobile devices are able to transmit messages to all in-range D2D-enabled mobile devices or a subset of mobile devices which are members of particular group. Additionally networks may require devices to operate in near simultaneous fashion when switching between cellular and D2D communication modes. As a result, there is a need for protocols which can manage D2D communication in these hybrid deployment scenarios.